The appointment of Jean-Marc Cordier as the head of the oil trading arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has raised diverse concerns among industry experts and operators.
The announcement, however, triggered resentment among analysts and operators on Monday, though other experts found nothing wrong with the development.
Energy expert and Chief Executive Officer, of Sage Consulting, Bode Fadipe, said, “It is of concern to most Nigerians that at this time of our life, we are still having a foreigner in such a strategic business enterprise in this country.
“The question many people will ask is, don’t we have Nigerians who can manage that office? Are the expatriatesnow investors in the business or is it a joint venture that allows a foreigner to hold that kind of position?
“Has NNPC Ltd sold its shares to the public? To the best of my knowledge, it is still the Nigerian government that owns the shares in NNPCL. It is still owned by the government, so when did it start appointing foreigners to such a level?”
Fadipe said this was the first time he would see such an appointment in the national oil company, describing the development as abnormal.
“I think it is an anomaly. I don’t know what would have informed that kind of position, but I think it is a situation that calls for further interrogation,” the energy analyst stated.
But on his part, a legal consultant and energy law advisor, Prof. Yemi Oke, argued that under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, NNPCL should be a going concern, as there were requirements under the law for appointments.
“There are other Nigerian companies that have expatriates as employees. All they need is to comply with the expatriate quota and show that there’s no local manpower skilled enough to man that particular office, due to the technical nature of the position,” he stated.
However, an impeccable source at the national oil firm told our correspondent that most commercially viable subsidiaries of NNPCL would be managed by expatriates going forward.
“I was reliably told that for most subsidiaries or units that are commercially viable, the operations would be managed by expatriates, with those in the M3 category now limited to administrative schedules.
“This is the same with NNPC Retails (the filling station’s arm), NETCO (National Engineering and Technical Company), NPDC (Nigeria Upstream Development Company), etc,” the source, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, stated.
The source added, “If the expatriates are on M3 NNPC grade (Executive Vice President is M2, Group Chief Executive Officer is M1), would that not lead to rivalry and conflict, at the expense of the company’s man-hours?”
